This was an excellent listen but maybe a little oversold. If you’re writing (and talking) about golf history then be sure you know your facts, given this podcast seems to be aimed at a premium golf audience. Errors irk such an audience. For example, Tom Watson beat Jack Nicklaus at Turnberry in 1977, not St Andrews as stated. Sandy Lyle was the first Briton to win The Masters (1988), not Nick Faldo (1989). And there’s a few more. But it’s a good formula and insightful otherwise.

A terrific trip down the rabbit hole into the history of the Ryder Cup. Can’t wait for the book to come out!

Wow I’ve never heard a sports writer sound so infatuated with a sports figure. I’m quite surprised we didn’t find out McGinley’s shoe size, favorite fruit of the looms and his choice of colognes. Jeez give me a break. I can’t even imagine a class act like Tom Watson or any gentlemen of this great game giving this hack a moment in time. USA! USA! USA! USA!

A golf writer saying the Duel in the Sun was at St Andrews is pretty shocking. But rest of pod was awesome. Amazing how we think the Euros get along so well and they have as much drama as Americans.

Awesome. Please do more

Should probably give credit for the fact that that author admits in the midst of an episode that there’s no discipline or rhyme/reason to the podcast. It’s not planned, there’s no set order of the episodes or even structured storyline, and pretty much no production value or editorial decision making (music, design, archival audio, heck even re-created audio, etc etc). And I absolutely love the Ryder Cup. You also don’t necessarily have to include any of those aforementioned “production values” to be a good podcast…but this is just 90 minutes of one guy talking, essentially just an author in love with his own thesis rambling word vomit into his tape recorder. It’s not good, at all. The book that results from this project is almost certain to be very good, but simply hearing the rambling uncut musings of its author does not make for an entertaining listen. Desperately needs a co-host to actually bounce ideas off of and actually counter some of his assertions, not to mention somebody who could function as a story editor and pare down the episodes to a coherent package of around 1 hour. Additionally, and again this is all just opinion making, I completely disagree with the thesis of the project. Shane has fallen so hard for what another really good book dubs “The Captain Myth”, i.e. that the Ryder Cup captaincy carries with it special voodoo powers that can either uplift or hex the team, depending of course entirely how they play. I’m a little mystified on how a direct line can be drawn between captain decision making and making a 45 foot putt, but here we are. The Americans have been on the losing end of the Ryder Cup because the European team plays better. That’s it. There is no Moneyball equation to figure out here but Ryan is hellbent on finding it - and it’s actually to his benefit that what he’s looking for has nothing to do with data, that way he can pick only the examples which support his thesis (like Seve in 1997) or prove it by way of failure (Tom Watson in 2014). Why ascribe to reality what can be more magically proven thru mysticism?

If you have memories of any early Ryder Cups or are a younger fan the history and backstories shared here are incredible. Play this one on your next 1 hour drive to the course. Time will fly by.

Can u do another one soon. Top notch

Excellent pod with tons of little nuggets that contextualize the difference between the success enjoyed by the Euros and the dysfunction that doomed the US in 2014. I really look forward to listening to more of these.